<B>Recycled Board Production Continues Decline</B>

A disconcerting issue has been the steady decline in the domestic production of recycled paperboard. After several years of steady growth the second half of 2000 highlighted the problems that many paper stock dealers have been seeing: a contraction in the demand for OCC due to reduced demand.

The most recent figures from the American Forest and Paper Association confirm this less than optimistic outlook. According to AFPA’s figures, the 11-month total stands at 14.412 million tons, a 3.3 percent drop from figures the same time the previous year.

The decrease in figures for 2000 follow several years of increasing figures. The drop in recycled board production was not the only sector to see a decline. Total paperboard production over the first 11 months declined by an 3.4 percent.

All three components of the recycled paperboard industry posted declines for the year, with recycled corrugated medium the biggest loser. November’s recycled medium production level stands at 228,000 tons, pushing the annual rate, year to date, to 3.749 million tons, a 7.6 percent drop from figures the same time the previous year.

Meanwhile, semichemical medium production, the other component of the corrugated medium sector, posted a modest 0.6 percent improvement between the two years. Total recycled medium production stands at 9.429 million tons, a 2.8 percent drop from figures the same time last year.

Recycled linerboard production, the largest component of the recycled board industry, also posted a decline for the first 11 months of last year. According to the AFPA, production of the grade for November stands at 348,000 tons, pushing the 11-month total to 3.935 million tons, a 4 percent drop from 1999’s figures.

Total linerboard production over the same period of time stand at 21.122 million tons, a 4.1 percent drop year to year.

The third component of the recycled board industry, recycled boxboard, declined 0.4 percent between last year and 1999. For November, recycled boxboard production stands at 228,000 tons, pushing the annual rate, year to date, to 2.845 million tons.

Recycled boxboard production during the same time dipped by 0.8 percent between the two years.